


Back to the Future

by melissa13



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Speculation based on spoilers, Spoilers for 3x21 and 3x22
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-20 10:16:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1506845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melissa13/pseuds/melissa13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina and Rumplestiltskin prepare Emma and Killian to travel back in time after Zelena. Rumple gifts each of them something surprising. </p><p>NOT SPOILER FREE SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Back to the Future

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, this is my headcanon on how Killian gets his hand back. Emma and Killian have shared a TLK, Emma still has her powers, and Gold is no longer being controlled by the dagger. Enjoy! :)

Emma watches in horror from her spot frozen on the ground as Zelena eagerly jumps into the swirling time vortex in the well, her cackle seeming to echo around them triumphantly. She can do nothing more but shout, “No!” as the witch disappears just as Regina and Gold materialize out of thin air on either side of the well.

“Regina, hold the portal open,” Gold calls out to her, and Regina outstretches both her hands, magic flowing from the tips of her fingers.

Emma scrambles to her feet as soon as the witch’s freezing spell is broken, and she exchanges a panicked look with Killian as they close in on the two sorcerers.

“What do we do?” she asks, looking wide-eyed from one to the other.

“I’m not gonna let that bitch keep me from being born, that’s for sure,” Regina growls, exertion evident in her voice. “I’m going in after her.”

“No,” Rumplestiltskin says quickly. “It has to be Miss Swan.”

“What?” both Emma and Regina say at the same time.

“Regina and I are both present in that time, as are your parents,” he explains impatiently. “If our past selves came into contact with our future selves, the ramifications could be catastrophic.”

“But Snow White and Prince Charming running into their future daughter would be fine?” Emma asks incredulously.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, but yes,” Gold replies, eyes focused on the portal. “Trust me. Only your magic, the magic of the Savior, can defeat her.”

Looking over at her parents, the grief over Zelena taking their baby still fresh on their faces, Emma makes the easiest decision of her life. “Okay,” she says determinedly. She’s going to get that baby back if it’s the last thing she does. After all, she’d only got to spend five minutes with her little brother. “Okay, let’s do this.”

“You’re not going anywhere without me, love,” Killian says, stepping up to her side, a stubborn set to his jaw.

“Killian…”

“I just found you, Swan,” he reminds her quietly. “Family motto aside, I’d rather not be separated from you again so soon.”

There’s the unspoken fear between them that they may not have that much time left. If they don’t find Zelena before she changes the past, there’s a good chance Emma will cease to exist, and as she searches Kilian’s eyes, she realizes that he has at much at stake here as she does. So, she takes a deep breath and nods, and they both turn to Regina and Gold expectantly.  

“Lovely,” Gold says, practically rolling his eyes. With a twirl of his fingers, he’s summoned a pair of silver shoes, which he then hands to Emma. “Put these on,” he orders, and she hesitates for a moment before doing what he says. “When you’ve defeated the witch, click your heels three times and think of Storybrooke. As long as you’re touching the babe and your pirate here, you should all be returned back safely.”

“Wait, seriously?” Emma asks, looking down at the slippers on her feet. Weren’t they supposed to be red?

“Now’s not the time, Miss Swan,” Regina says impatiently, her arms shaking as she struggles to keep the vortex open.

“Right.” Emma looks back at her parents, giving them a confident nod. “I’m going to get him back, I promise,” she assures them. She was not going to let them suffer the loss of another child anymore than she was going to let another child go through life without its parents.

“Be careful, Emma,” David tells her, arms wrapped around a desolate Mary Margaret.

She nods again and tries to pretend this isn’t possibly the last time she’ll ever see them. She turns to Killian and finds him gazing back at her, a determined gleam in his eyes that gives her strength. They reach out at the same time to grasp each other’s hands, and he gives hers a loving squeeze. Together, they step up to the well and look down into the swirling vortex.

“Ah, one more thing,” Gold says hesitantly behind them. They turn to see that he him holding something else this time: another hand.

Emma inhales sharply, and Killian stiffens at her side, the rings on his fingers digging into her. “Is that…?”

“Well, he’s not going to fit in very well with that thing is he?” Gold sniffs, pointing at Killian’s hook.

Killian stares at his lost hand with an inscrutable expression on his face before his eyes move up to Gold’s face. “You’ve kept it as a trophy all these years?” he asks in a low voice, swallowing heavily.

“More of a souvenir, really,” Rumple shrugs and gestures impatiently. “Do you want it or not?”

Slowly, as though not really sure what he’s doing or if he even should be doing it, Killian removes his hand from Emma’s and undoes his brace, sliding it off his wrist. There’s a sudden swirl of green smoke around it, and then just like that, his hand is there, reattached seamlessly.

Killian gasps and flexes the fingers on his left hand for the first time in 300 years. He stares in disbelief, moving it around experimentally, so intent on it that he doesn’t even notice when he drops his hook onto the grass. There’s a distinct glassy sheen to his eyes as he beholds his hand, and it’s a moment before he comes back to himself. He lets out a shaky break, before lifting his eyes to Rumplestiltskin again. “Thank you,” he says begrudgingly.

“Enough dawdling,” Regina grits out, shattering the moment. “I can’t hold this open forever.”

Emma and Killian tip their heads at each other, and he hands her up onto the edge of the well with his newly returned appendage, following after her. They exchange a loaded look before he enfolds her in his arms. Regina peers up at her from her spot alongside the well.

“Take care of Henry for me,” Emma says, knowing Regina will whether she’d asked or not.

“Of course,” the former Evil Queen promises. “Good luck.”

Emma gives a little nod before pressing her face into Killian’s chest. His arms are tight around her and the only warning he gives her before he jumps in is a hasty, “Here goes nothing.”

The vortex is like being in the eye of a tornado, and they are ceaselessly thrown to and fro. Emma locks her arms around Killian, sure that if one of them lets go, they’ll be lost. It feels like they’re tumbling forever through space and time until finally they land on solid ground. Killian’s back takes the brunt of the descent, Emma laying sprawled on top of him.

She opens her eyes and takes in their surroundings, seeing forest in every direction. Carefully, she rolls off of Killian, getting to her feet, keeping a protective eye out for Zelena or anyone else that might be nearby. Killian groans as he stands, rubbing the back of his head gingerly, and it’s only then that she realizes he’s not in his usual leather. No, he’s somehow traded his black greatcoat for a long brown one with a white undershirt and soft brown trousers.

“Why are you dressed like that?” she asks in surprise, though he looks rather...dashing, she has to admit.

He surveys himself, brow furrowing at his new duds, before he glances her way, and his eyes widen as he takes in her appearance. “Why are  _you_  dressed like  _that_?” he retorts, gesturing to her.

Emma looks down at herself and wonders how she didn’t notice it in the first place. In place of the clothes she’d been wearing in Storybrooke, she now has on a coarse beige dress, along with a blue cloak. Her head feels heavier than it had been before, and she reaches up and feels a simple circlet on top of her hair. She drops her hand and expels a deep breath. 

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”


End file.
